Priveq

"The change in strategy at Skandia in 1998 gave Christer Dahlström and his three colleagues the opportunity to buy the business, which they named Priveq (a play on “private equity,” which is the English equivalent of risk capital firms). Skandia invested 600 million in the first fund, and Norwegian Orkla, ICA, Handelsbanken Liv and the Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund each invested 100 million. With a billion in their pockets, they moved out from Skandia on Sveavägen to their own office, hired four people and got started."

"One of the first private equity firms, Priveq’s founder Christer Dahlström, has an attitude toward debt that is similar to Hasse’s. Dahlström has never worked with really high leverage and is doubtful about it. – It is unfortunate for an acquired company to be sitting with large debts to the owners. There is also a risk that the CEO focuses too much on short-term cash flow and too little on long-term investments. But it yields lower returns with lower leverage, he says."